Perfect Liar
by XxXBuri-ChanXxX
Summary: Scarlette was a nineteen year old con artist who got caught up in the infection. Now, as she travels with three others, she finds herself going against everything she's ever learned. Why does Ellis care about her? Why does Nick pretend he doesn't? NickXOC
1. Scarlette, the perfect liar

**Alright, I was asked by one of my reviewers to turn one of my one-shots into a full length story: and so, here it is. I present to you…the story I have yet to name!~ featuring my own character, Scarlette :D Now, there is one difference that I'm making here. In my story I like you, I love you, she seems like a sweet, innocent kind of girl (plus she's seventeen lol) in this, **

**Disclaimer: I do not own L4D2….valve does….damn it….XD**

**Dedication: to , who gave me the will to write this out :D thank you!~**

…**..**

_Sin is the instinct I'm attracted to_

_I swore to live while carrying a cross_

_Your clumsy skills will always leave me dry_

_Is the honey from the flower that only opens at night too bitter for you?_

I had been the best in my line of work. Once I began my rein, no one could stop me. The others always glared at me with cold looks, but I hadn't really cared. They weren't my friends, and I wasn't there's. When my life went downhill, this is what I ran to. I relieved myself of any morals I had left, and let my demon side take over. My heart is cold, I'm ruthless. They call me the Perfect Liar. But you can just call me Scarlette.

The small Savannah club wasn't as stylish as I was accustomed to in Los Angeles, but it would have to work. I was running low on gas and money, and I still had a far way to go. I pulled my imperial blue Camaro up to the curb, and I stepped out. I straightened my short dark black dress, and flipped my curly platinum blonde hair back over my shoulders. The perfect entrance.

The inside of the club was full of people, all of the just waiting to be scammed. I had gotten a lot of looks from the guys at the bar, and I flirtatiously smiled back at them and winked. This was going to be _too easy. _One of them approached me, and smiled. He was at least a foot taller than me, brunette, muscular, and obviously getting to the point of being drunk.

"Hey there cutie," he said, his speech a little slurred.

"Hey," I smiled.

"You looked kinda lonely over here, want some company?" he asked.

"From a hotie like you? Tonight's my lucky night," I flirted easily. It was exactly thirty minutes and three beers later that I was three-hundred dollars richer. I made my way across the bar, scamming each and every guy. It was around midnight by now, and I had at least five-thousand dollars. I sat alone at one of the secluded tables in the corner, counting my money.

"Damn, and I thought I was a good con artist," a deep voice said, nearly making me jump. A man stood at the other end of the table, watching me with a smirk. I wondered how long he'd been standing there. He had midnight black hair, and golden-green eyes. He wore a white suit, which looked like it was brand new.

"I'd say thank you, but it would probably add on to your apparently large ego," I smirked.

"Definitely a con artist…." He chuckled, taking a seat from across from me, "You got a name sweetheart?"

"Perfect Liar," I responded, placing my cash back in my purse.

"Ok, maybe a _real _name?" he muttered.

"Sure I have one, but I don't use it," I admitted, leaning back in my chair. "You have one?"

"Nick. I stick to a first name basis, but hell, at least I use a real one," he smirked.

"Bastard," I muttered. He rolled his eyes at me.

"How old are you?" he asked.

"Twenty-one," I lied.

"You're lying. You told each guy at the bar a different age, so which one is it?" he said.

"What the hell, were you stalking me?" I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Maybe, but you were the only person I figured I couldn't con in this place," he shrugged. I rolled my eyes.

"Fine…." I huffed, and crossed my arms, "Nineteen…" I muttered. His eyes widened for a few seconds, but then he regained his composure.

"That's a little young for this kind of business, isn't it?" He asked.

"Shut the fuck up, ok? You don't know me," I defended myself.

"Jesus, chill the fuck out," He said. "But seriously, what is a nineteen year old doing with this kind of job?"

"I have the gift of beauty and smarts," I said simply, "I'm just putting them to good use."

"And you said my ego was big…." He muttered. I sighed. As attractive as he was, I wasn't putting up with this bullshit anymore. I got up from the table, and he got up too.

"Well _Nick,_" I said coldly, "It was nice chatting with you, but I have places to be, things to do," I said, and began to walk away.

"wait!" he said, grabbing onto my arm. I spun around quickly, ripping my arm from his grasp.

"What?" I demanded.

"At least tell me where you're staying tonight," he pleaded.

"_Why?" _

"Just in case I need to talk to you again," he said with a smirk. I rolled my eyes, and thought about for a second.

"Probably the Savannah Hotel, now, if you excuse me," I said elegantly, and turned away.

"Wait! One more thing," he said, stopping me again.

"Jesus Christ, what now?"

"You never did tell me your name," he smirked.

"I'm known as the Perfect Liar, but you can call me Scarlette," I said. I turned away without another word. I walked out of the club, most of the eyes on me. Call me arrogant or self-centered, but I enjoyed it.

…

I took the few clothes I had up to my room after checking in. I opened the door to my room, and shut it behind me. I shoved my clothing in the closet, and changed into my PJ's. I hopped on the bed, and turned on the tv.

"_With the Green Flu spreading even farther than the northeastern states, the people of Savannah are advised to stay indoors, and keep all pets, family members, and themselves away from the infected." _The girl on the screen said. Her dark brown complexion almost blended in with the scene behind her.

"_CEDA is now planning evacuations of the general public, and these are the five evac stations in the Savannah area," _A small map of the area pulled up, and the Savannah hotel was one of them. _Shit, _I thought. I'd have to evacuate in the morning….perfect. I clicked off the TV, then the lamp beside my bed. Then, thoughts of Nick suddenly crossed my mind. I wonder if I would actually ever see him again….? I shrugged off the idea, and returned to trying to sleep.

…

**Yup, she's a prostitute. XD an arrogant, egotistic one as well lol anyway, please review :D I would like to know what you people think of my character x3**


	2. The beginning of my own personal hell

**Chapter two!~ thank you so much to all…three of my reviewers lol if I receive another one while I am writing this, I apologize in advance haha now, I shall continue with my story ^-^;; OH! and one more thing: the song that this story is based off of, Perfect Liar, is by Megurine Luka (or Luka Megurine, when going by the English way of putting it lol) look it up on youtube, its an awesome song :D**

…**.**

_I raise my nails, don't damage me._

_I'm not a woman that only belongs to you._

_The number of lies I piled up and_

_The number of skins I grinded with_

_Between them you could sometimes see_

_The scars._

I woke up to the sound of helicopters. I groaned, and stretched out. Evacuation…damn…. I got up quickly, and slipped on whatever clothing I could find. Black spaghetti strap tank top, jean Capri's, and white converse; plain, but it would have to do. I grabbed my bag from the desk, and headed outside of my room: the last safe place I would ever be in.

God I hated stairs. For every flight that I climbed, it seemed to be ten more to replace it. My lungs burned, but hell, there were no people in my way. _No people….._I stopped for a second. _Isn't everyone supposed to be evacuating? Where is everyone? _The thought scared me, and I climbed the stairs three at a time. I hadn't been left behind, had I? I reached the roof, and busted through the door. The warm Savannah sun greeted me: but that was it. There was no helicopter, no rescue, no nothing: but then I noticed the four other people standing on the roof.

I recognized two of the people: the white suit didn't go unnoticed. My stalker from last night stood only a few hundred feet away. The other person I recognized was the woman from the news. She wore a light pink shirt, jeans, and what looked like designer boots. The other two were men, one a lot larger than the other. The one on the left wore a yellow shirt and what looked like overalls, while the other wore what looked like a school uniform. After taking a look at the people, I noticed what they were looking at: helicopters flying off, obviously without us onboard.

"Where are they going?" I asked, running up to where they were.

"Away from us apparently," Nick responded. I shot him a glare.

"I though' CEDA was suppose' tah be savin us," The one in the yellow shirt said.

"I thought so too," the news girl said.

"Well, no use in just standing here. Where are the helicopters headed anyway?" I asked.

"New Orleans, last I heard," News girl said.

"Looks like we're headin' for New Orleans then," the one in the school uniform said. We nodded in agreement. I looked back towards the door, and spied a table next to it. It had a few guns, med kits, and ammo.

"Are we going to need those?" I asked.

"Better safe than sorry," Nick said, grabbing one off the table. I snatched up a magnum, and put some ammo in my pockets. I loaded it, and grabbed a med kit.

"Ready?" we nodded. I opened the door to the stairs, and we began our descent into hell. About ten flights of stairs later, we found the way blocked.

"What the hell?" I cried. I pushed on the furniture, but it wouldn't budge.

"We're going to have to get to the elevator," New girl said. We pushed through the door next to us, only to find something even worse: infected. They looked absolutely horrific. Pale skin, red eyes, blood dripping from their mouths. It took all the courage inside of me not to scream. They came running at us, and I shot a few down.

"What the fuck are these things?" Nick yelled.

"What we were apparently evacuating from," I responded. We ran down the halls, trying to find our way out. I began coughing, not really realizing what was happening.

"This place is burnin' to the ground! We gotta get outta here!" Overalls said. We found our way blocked again, and we had nowhere to go. The school guy busted down one of the doors to a room, and ran to the windows.

"We need to climb on the outside," he said. _Heights. _Fuck, this was going to suck ass. We slid out onto the ledge, and shuffled across as quickly as possible. We jumped through another window, and booked it for the door. As we opened it, however, something hit news girl. She went flying back, and hit the ground. The thing was ripping at her, tearing at her insides.

"Kill it! Kill it!" she cried. We shot it off quickly, and overalls helped her up.

"You ok?" He asked. She nodded, and brushed herself off. Blood stained the front of her shirt, but she didn't seem to care. We continued to run down the hall, and finally reached the elevator. As we all threw ourselves inside, the smoke seemed to get thicker. Nick hit the button, and leaned against the wall.

"Technically….you're not supposed to use an elevator when the building is on fire, but I don't really think that applies to a _zombie apocalypse," _Nick laughed.

"Was that _really _the best thing you could come up with?" I said.

"Shut up Scarlette," he muttered.

"You two know each other?" News girl asked.

"Yes."

"No." We said at the same time. We shot each other glares, and I turned back to the others.

"I'm Scarlette, you can call me Scar, or whatever works for ya," I said.

"I'm Rochelle," News girl said.

"My friends call me Coach, I guess you can do the same," the school guy said.

"Mah name's Ellis, but you can call me El if ya want tew, but I prefer Ellis cause El kinda sounds like a girl name-"

"I'm Nick," Nick said, cutting off Ellis, "But don't bother learning it cause I ain't sticking around long."

"Good, cause I don't want to put up with your bullshit," I muttered.

"Bitch," he muttered back.

"Bastard."

"Ok guys, do we really need to be fighting right now?" Rochelle questioned. I sighed unhappily, and turned away from Nick. The elevator dinged, but the door didn't open.

"Why won' the door open?" Ellis asked. We started coughing, the smoke getting even thicker.

"We have to pry it open," Coach said. We each took a side, and pulled as hard as we could. The door budged a little. We pulled even harder, and we got it open far enough to get through. As we step through, it all literally went to hell. There were flames everywhere, and we had no fucking idea where to go.

"This way!" Coach said, taking off in one direction. We followed, hoping he knew what he was doing. The smoke grew thicker, and I found it hard to breathe.

"We gotta get the fuck out of here! I can hardly breathe!" I coughed. Then suddenly, something slimy and gross wrapped around my body, causing me to drop my gun and hit the ground. I was dragged towards the flames, but the thing constricted me, and I couldn't yell out. Rochelle saw me being pulled away, and shot at the area behind me. Whatever was holding me let go. I unwrapped the gross thing from around my body, and grabbed my gun.

"Thanks," I said. Rochelle nodded, and we kept running. We shot down whatever few infected came at us, but the fire was our main concern.

"I see light! I see our way out!" Ellis yelled. We followed him, and busted through a door. Fresh air greeted us, but so did about fifty billion zombies. I pulled on the trigger, but all I heard was a "click!" ….shit. I reached in my pocket, but I had no ammo left. I looked around, trying to find a weapon. A baseball bat lay against the wall, and I grabbed it quickly. I had played a few years of little league softball when I was younger, so swinging the bat wasn't much of a problem. I knocked a few heads off, and kept running.

"Where now?" Nick cried.

"Safe house!" I yelled, spotting a sign on the wall. I followed the arrows, and found a bright red door. I opened it, and we ran inside. I slid against the wall, breathing heavily. Coach, Ellis, and Nick pushed furniture against the door, so nothing could get in. Rochelle groaned, and I looked over at her. Her shirt was soaked in blood, and she was looking extremely pale. I grabbed my med pack off my back, and ran over to her.

"I have no fucking idea how to do this, so if I screw up…sorry," I apologized in advance. I set to work with bandaging her wounds, and messed up a few times. I eventually got her wounds covered, and she lay her head against the wall.

"Thanks Scar," she murmured.

"No problem, just don't expect it to happen again," I said. I slid against the wall, and let out a sigh. This was going to be a _long _day.

…..

**Writers block. I had no idea where to end this, so I just did XD I think I may add a few things to the map, ya know? Just going through the campaigns is just too boring, and too short for my romantic needs lol reviewers get virtual hugs from Nick!~**

**Nick: what the hell I didn't agree to that T.T**

**Yes, yes you did**

**Nick: no, I didn't.**

**Ellis: hell if he doesn't want to, I'll hug em!**

**Thank you Ellis! See Nick? Why can't you be nice like Ellis?**

**Nick: T3T**

**That's right, go pout in your corner. …shit now I feel guilty. NIIIICK!~ COME BAAAACK!~**


	3. a not so old face, and some new ones

**Heya! Alright, so….writers block. That is the topic of the day. XD yeah, ok, I hate the damned thing because it keeps me from updating quickly! And getting to the point of the story that won't be a total chore to write! SO! Let's get this what will probably shitty half-ass chapter over with!**

**Nick: oh, that was real positive Bri, way to go.**

**STFU NICK. THIS IS MY STORY AND I WILL DO WHAT I WANT.**

**Nick: Jesus Christ, chill out T-T**

**NO. fine. Whatever. OK! LET'S GET TO THE STORY!**

…**.**

_You will never know_

_The real face underneath the mask_

_I will continue to deceive you until the end_

_Until you go crazy._

"So how exactly are we gonna get to New Orleans?" Coach asked. No one had an answer.

"Would a car work?" Rochelle asked.

"Anything that moved quickly would work sweetheart," Nick said.

"I have a car…." I muttered. Jesus, all of these people….in my car….I almost shuddered at the thought. I regretted saying anything.

"What kind?" Rochelle asked.

"Imperial blue Camaro," I replied simply.

"OH DUDE, ARE YEW SERIOUS?" Ellis cried suddenly, which made me jump slightly.

"Uhm, yeah…." I said slowly, afraid of another sudden outburst from him.

"LUCKY! I wan'ed one of those since the day they released em!" He said. I stared at him for a few seconds, then turned back to anyone that wasn't insane.

"So…..I guess we could try to get to New Orleans with my car….." I said.

"We need guns though, there isn't any way in hell we're going to survive if we don't have real weapons," Nick pointed out.

"Meh, bastard's got a point," I muttered.

"Bitch."

"Asshole."

"Guys, cut it out!" Rochelle cried. We stopped talking, but shot each other death glares.

"So where do we get guns?" Coach asked. Then the idea popped into my mind.

"I think I know of someone who can help us. Well, I mean, they're probably dead. Or infected. BUT they had a shit load of guns," I said. Now, who on earth was I talking about? They would probably all want to know. I definitely not going to tell them what I did for a living, or for that matter, what the guy did that we're getting the guns from.

"How many?"

"Enough to get us across the fuckin country, but we don't really need that much, do we?" I said. Coach shook his head.

"Alrighty Young'un, you take us to the place, and then we can get out of this zombie-infested hell," Coach said with a small laugh. I didn't understand why I was helping these people; I mean, I hated other people. Unless they were paying me of course….but that wasn't the point! Why would I help them? Couldn't I just take the car and go? No…I couldn't do that….WHAT THE HELL? WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?

"Hey Scar, yew ok?" Ellis asked. I snapped out of it, and nodded. _Yes Ellis, I'm fine. Just some internal conflict is all….._

We pushed the furniture away from the door, and I grabbed the bar that kept the door in place.

"Ok, as soon as we get out of here, we run like hell, you follow me, we get to the car, and we book it out of here, ok?" I instructed. They nodded.

_Here we go…._ I pushed the door open and _ran. _Apparently, there were still a few straggling zombies outside, and we shot them out of our way.

"Charging thing!" Rochelle yelled. Sure enough, a loud roar sounded in my ears, and a flash of grey streaked past me. I turned to shoot, but I realized it had Ellis. The thing had one large arm, and one little arm that dangled there in place. Hehe….that could be an extremely dirty joke…It rammed into the wall, and grabbed Ellis.

"SHOOT IT!" He cried. It slammed him down into the ground. We shot it away, and it hit the ground. We ran over to him, and helped him up.

"_Nii-san!" I cried, running over to my brother. He had fallen off of his bike after attempting to do a back flip off a ramp._

"_Are you ok?" I asked. He groaned, which I took as a no._

"_Damn….my back hurts….." He groaned, "But that was awesome, wasn't it?" I started laughing. Of course, he wouldn't care that he was hurt; instead all he cared about was how awesome he looked. Typical Nii-san._

"_C'mon, let's get you to the hospital, you might be hurt," I said. He nodded, and grabbed my hand. I hoisted him up, and he stood unsteadily._

"_I am amazing," He smiled._

"_Sure Nii-san, sure you are."_

A memory! An actual memory from my childhood! But how did I remember it?

"Scarlette! Snap out of it!" Nick yelled. I blinked, and it was like a wakeup call: I had to get to the car. Ellis was limping, which somehow down inside, made me feel bad. What the fuck? It was the dumbass's fault, he let himself get hit.

"C'mon! We're almost there!" I cried. As we ran across the parking lot, it seemed like the hoard was endless. They just kept coming!

"There it is!" I yelled, pointing to my car. We ran to the doors, but I realized I didn't have the keys.

"Fuck! I'm going to have to hotwire it!" I yelled. And of course, there was the point of actually _getting in. _I sighed, and braced my elbow. _This is going to fucking hurt…._I lifted my elbow up high, and then smashed it against the window as hard as possible. The glass shattered, and the alarm started going off. They cry of more infected told me to hurry. I unlocked the car, and we all jumped in. I went to work immediately, trying to get the car to start. I pulled at the wires until I found the right ones. Finally, the beautiful sound of my engine sounded in my ears.

"Let's get out of here!" Rochelle yelled. I pressed on the gas, and ran over any zombies that had surrounded the car. We pulled out of the parking lot, and took off onto the highway.

"So….how far away is this place exactly?" Nick asked.

"Well…..let's just say I hope you're ready for a little road trip."

…

We had only been driving for about ten minutes, and I could tell everyone hated being so cramped. I was in the driver's seat, Ellis sat in the passenger seat next to me, and Rochelle, Coach, and Nick were in the back. I laughed because Nick was stuck in-between Coach and Rochelle.

"Hey Scar?"

"Yeah Ellis?"

"Your arms bleedin'….." he trailed off. I slowed the car down, and took a look at my arm. There were glass shards stuck in some of the cuts, and most of the blood had dried by now. I sighed.

"Do ya wan' some help?" He asked.

"Sure, just be careful, ok?" I pleaded. He smiled, and grabbed his med kit.

"That looks like it hurts," Nick said.

"Not really, unless I move it…." I shrugged. Thankfully there was a pair of tweezers in the med kit, so it would be a little easier to get the glass out.

"If ah hurt yew, just tell me, ok?" He said. I nodded, and looked away. I felt a little sting with every piece he took out. _Damn there is a lot of that shit in my arm…._ I thought after a little while. He was still plucking out the glass a few minutes later.

"So where exactly is this place we're going to?" Rochelle asked.

"It's not that far, maybe an hour awa- OW SHIT ELLIS THAT HURT!" I yelled, biting my lip and holding back tears.

"Sorry!" he apologized, "It was a big one and it didn' wanna come ou'…." He explained. He grabbed some bandages, and wrapped my arm up.

"There ya go!" He said with a smile.

"Thanks Ellis," I smiled. Holy shit….I pushed on the gas, and returned to driving, but it hurt my arm _a lot. _I pulled over again, and looked over at Ellis.

"Hey Ellis, you wanna drive?" I asked. His eyes lit up, and he had a huge smile on his face in less than a second.

"HELL YEAH I WANNA DRIVE!" he yelled. We got out of our spots, and switched places.

"Was that really smart Scarlette?" Nick asked.

"I don't know, and I don't really care Nick," I smirked, putting my feet up on the dash.

…..

It was exactly forty five minutes later when we made it to the house….er…mansion.

"Jesus, what the hell kind of person owned this place?" Coach asked.

"Uhm…well….it was more like his *group* owned the place," I explained, "There was a big gang of bikers that used to do, uhm, business with us. They supplied us with guns and transportation, and we gave them what we could," I said, being trying to be iffy about the details of my job. Why should I care if they found out I was a prostitute? I never seemed to care about it before…..

"Alright, well, let's get inside then," Rochelle said. I nodded, and we ran up to the front door. I twisted the door knob, and the door swung open. A few of the zombies came running at us: and I recognized them to be a part of the biker gang.

"Bobby," I said as I shot a zombie straight through the face. Had I ever liked these people? Nope. Did I feel weird shooting them? Yeah…a little….

"Sam." Another zombie down. As I heard a noise behind me, I turned quickly, my gun ready to fire. I stopped dead in my tracks when I realized the person was alive. The shaved head, tattoo sleeves, and vest gave him away immediately.

"F-Francis….?" I asked quietly, lowering my gun.

"Hey! If it isn't Scarlette," he said with an amused smile, "I thought you would have been dead or infected by now." I smirked, and the rest of my team stood near us.

"I thought the same thing," I half laughed.

"You didn't think I could survive this shit?" He questioned.

"Nope, not at all," my signature smirk grew even larger. Then I remember my team behind me.

"Guys, this is Francis. He was a part of the group I was telling you about," I introduced him.

"_group…?" _Francis questioned my choice of words. I shot him a glare, which told him to shut up.

"Are you here by yourself?" Coach asked.

"Nah, he's got us," A female voice said, stepping out from the darkness. She was about my height, with dark brown hair pulled back into a ponytail. She wore a dark pink jacket, and jeans. Another two people stepped forward. One guy had dark colored skin, just like Coach and Rochelle, and wore what looked like a business suit. The other guy was oldish looking, with a short white beard. He wore an army uniform.

"I'm Zoey," she said.

"I'm Louis," suit dude said.

"Bill," Old guy said.

"I'm Scarlette. This is Ellis," Ellis smiled at them, but mostly Zoey, "Rochelle," Francis seemed to enjoy looking at her, "Coach," He gave them one of his signature smiles, "and that asshole over there is Nick."

"Bitch."

"Jackass."

"GUYS!" Rochelle yelled, breaking up the fight again.

"Anyway….where are you guys doing here?" Francis asked.

"Smart one over there said there would be guns here. Was she right?" Nick said.

"Yeah she was. The guns are in the basement," Louis said.

"You guys already went down there?" I asked. They shared a nervous look.

"There's a witch down there."

"A wha?" Ellis asked.

"A witch. She's one of the special infected. I take it you guys haven't faced one yet?" Zoey explained. We shook our heads.

"Well, she basically sits in a corner, in the dark, and cries. Disturb the witch, and you're really going to wish you hadn't," Bill said.

"Then how are we going to get the guns?" I asked. They merely shrugged, unsure of what to do.

"So basically, this witch thing is keeping us from getting out of here?" Rochelle asked.

"I guess so," I sighed.

"Then let's figure out a way to get her out of there, cause I am sure as hell not staying here to die."

…..

**You're probably wondering "why would it be so difficult to get rid of the witch? Remember, they don't have big ass guns: they have pistols and magnums. If you have played the game, then you know that won't do much good. They are running low on ammo, and have only a few health kits. Would you try to take her down? Probably not lol AND SO here we are! I can finally continue this story in peace! XD**

**I'm trying to portray her correctly, but I might be having some difficulty T.T I've never exactly had a distant person….so…. eh….ANYWAY.**

**IMPORTANT****: the memory thing. Your probably wondering what that is. Don't worry, there are going to be a shit load of explanations in the next chapter! ALSO! I may have to change the rating to M, as much as I don't want to. I don't really think I can explain her past without crossing the boundary lines XD just warning you now! **


	4. Memories

**Here we go! Chapter four! XD **

**After writing a little bit, a certain sentence actually, I was unsure if I should change the rating. If you think I should, let me know :D it would be greatly appreciated ^-^**

…**.**

_You and your precious black car_

_What a boring thought if you think I'm going to be happy over that_

_I'll let you ride me at night_

_Can't you say at least one decent joke_

_Seriously?_

We had all basically fanned out, trying to figure out what to do. Everyone had someone to talk to; everyone but me and Nick. We sure as hell weren't about to talk to each other, so he went off in one direction, and I went in the other.

"_Don't let yourself get attached to anyone," Meygan said, "You'll just get hurt."_

"_Why?" I had asked like a child._

"_In this business, if you have a distraction, it will get eliminated. Trust me." was all she said on the subject._

I sighed, and walked slowly down the hallways, my gun in hand, ready to fight anything. Nothing came at me, for which I felt lucky. As I entered the west wing, I felt a sinking feeling in my heart. This is where it all began…where I started my second life. Each room used to hold a person, each person used to have a soul….before they were ripped from their bodies, bit by bit. I remember a name with every room I pass.

_Meygan. _She had been the leader before I took over.

_Shania. _A girl who was just trying to pay for college.

_Sara. _She dreamed of being an artist, but found herself here instead. She had been one of my best friends, back when I still had a heart.

_Esperanza. _She was born in Mexico, but was captured and smuggled into the US, where she joined us.

_Isabella. _Her nickname was Bellatrix. I grew fond of her as well. She had wanted to pursue her dream in singing, but didn't have enough money to get to LA. It was always about the money…..

_Scarlette. _My room. I go to turn the knob, but think better of it. I turn around, and head back for Sara's room. As I open the door, a small stream of sunlight from the window greets me.

We lived in this house for a year, until the police became suspicious. We sold it off to a biker gang, but they never touched the west wing.

The room's walls were still plastered with pictures and drawings. I smile at the memories of each and every one of them.

_I sat on Sara's bed, looking around at her beautiful drawings._

"_These are amazing," I had said._

"_Do you really think so?" she had asked, turning around in her desk chair. I nodded, admiring each and every one. She smiled._

"_With this job, you have to have something to hold onto, to keep you sane. If you don't…." she trailed off._

"_But Meygan said that it was best to cut off all ties to anything, don't get attached," I said, confused. She chuckled._

"_Don't listen to that bitch, Kiddo. She just wants to make your life a living hell," She said._

"_Sara….?"_

"_Yeah?"_

"_Was I really here…..before I lost my memory?" I asked. She didn't answer for a second._

"_Do you not believe you were….?" I shook my head slowly. "Hate to break it to you sweetheart, but you were."_

No I wasn't Sara. _Why did you lie to me….? _I silently scream. One drawing catches my eye. It's positioned right above where her head was when she slept. It's me, her, and Isabella. I feel small tears well up in my eyes, but I wipe them away quickly. I leave the room, and shut the door quietly behind me. Next I enter Isabella's room. Her walls were a dark black, but she had white sheets of paper scattered everywhere. I pick a few up, and read them; song lyrics. She had so many….

"_You have a beautiful voice Isabella," I said, clapping after she finished her song._

"_Do you really think so?" She asked with a smile. I nodded. There was a knock at the door. The door knob turned, and Sara's head appeared in the doorway._

"_Do I hear Bellatrix's amazing voice, or am I just imagining things?" She asked with a smile. We laughed, and she came into the room and sat next to me._

"_You would think I would remember a voice as amazing as hers," I said with a small laugh._

"_You would think so, huh?" Bella smiles, but it doesn't reach her eyes. I don't notice._

I was an idiot for not noticing. Couldn't I tell they were lying? They were just trying to keep themselves in line, to protect themselves….to protect me. Was it better that I didn't know the truth? Who knew….I pick up another sheet of paper, and read the song lyrics. I remember the song, the beautiful melody awaking itself in my memory.

"_Desperate and so lonely, I've looked for you," I heard Bellatrix begin to sing in the other room. She sounds like she's trying to sing softly, but I can hear her through the thin walls. Plus our rooms were right next to each other._

"_And left behind, all that I had ever longed for…." Her soothing voice comforts me, after what I was forced to do tonight. Apparently Alex had to "break me in" again, just to make sure I was still…talented. I shudder at the recovering memories. I shove them away, trying to forget how every touch seemed to burn my skin, and every kiss felt like a lie._

"_Cold winds scream through my ears, like a banshee…._

_A freezing chill, a pain that will forever haunt me…." Her voice echoes through the house, everyone quietly listening._

_Yet I have made it here, running through all the fear, the sadness in my heart, retains the pain…._

_And if I fall I've learned, that I may not return, none of my love remains….." My eyelids began to feel heavy, my senses giving in to sleep._

_Yet I have made it here, make this pain disappear, my one and only prince charmin-" her words are cut off by a loud banging noise, and Meygan's voice yelling "Knock it off Isabella!" _

"_And still I wonder, why can't I even dream…..?" I finish softly for her, and then fall into a deep slumber._

The song was so beautiful, and it had remained as my favorite. It brought tears to my eyes that I couldn't hold back anymore. I surrendered to my emotions, and released my tears. My quiet sobs couldn't drown out the memories.

"_Where are Bellatrix and Sara?" I had asked one night. Alex didn't answer right away._

"_I let them go, they weren't bringing in enough money," he said in a dead tone._

"_B-but….they…..they tried there hardest!" I protested, "Can't they have a second chance?" His palm connects with my cheek, and the force of the slap is enough to make me fall back onto the bed._

"_No one gets a second chance, Scarlette," he said, "Why should you care about them anyway?"_

"_They were…my…my friends…." I said quietly. He laughed at me._

"_Friends? Friends mean nothing in this world. Look out for you and you only, and you won't get hurt." He said. I nodded, and left the room._

I banged my fist against the wall. He had killed them, I knew it. Only a week later had we packed up and left, leaving everything of Sara's and Bella's behind. I didn't take anything with me; I couldn't stay attached to anything anymore. My heart had turned to stone, and I was done with emotion. I did my job, but as I became better and better, I realized the lies, and fled Los Angeles. The only reminder….. I traced the scars that covered my wrists with my finger. How many of them were there? Too many. Too many memories, too many men, too many tears.

I folded the small piece of paper up, and put in my pocket. I wiped away my tears, and opened the door to leave the room. I walked down to my door, and turned the knob slowly. No one is in there, thank god. It was the same way it was when we left: dark red walls, with drawing from Sara and song lyrics Bellatrix wrote for me covering the walls. There is a small desk right next to the window, and I walked over to it. The journal I left behind was still sitting where I left it, a thin layer of dust covered it. I opened it, and began reading it.

_June 14, 2008_

_I can't remember anything. I honestly can't. They told me I was already here; already working for them….but I can't tell if what they're telling me is true. All I remember is waking up here, in my room. They told me the whole story, of how "I became upset by something Esperanza said. I left for a little while, and when they went searching for me, they found me in the middle of the street. I had been hit by a car, and I couldn't remember anything. They knew my name was Scarlette, but didn't tell me my last name. They told me I was nineteen, but they didn't tell me what day I was born. How could they know me, but know so little about me? Why can't I trust them?_

_Sara and Isabella are really nice, and they seem to not give me hateful glares that all the others girls give me. I don't get why; I'm not beautiful like they all are. They are better at our….job….god, it's even difficult for me to write it. Why do they hate me? What did I ever do?_

Tears began to fall again, the emotions from two years ago refreshed in my mind.

"S-Scarlette..? Are ya ok?" A familiar southern accent asked behind me. I snap the book shut and turn quickly. Ellis is standing in the doorway; His expression showed that he was worried.

"E-Ellis, Jesus…..How long have you been standing there?" I asked, wiping away any tears that were left.

"J-Jus' a few seconds….Ah'm sorry, I didn' mean tah intrude or nothin'…." He apologized. I sighed.

"It's fine," I muttered.

"Wha's wrong Scar….?" He asked quietly.

"Do you really wanna know…?" He nodded. _Don't tell him, _my mind yelled at me. _Trust him, _my heart screamed. How long had I waited to tell someone? How long had I kept all of these emotions to myself?

"Alright," I sighed. I took a seat on the bed, and he came and sat next to me. I took a deep breath, and started the story of the past two years of my life.

…

**That was….dramatic, wasn't it? XD italics are everywhere….. *sigh* well, at least I got two chapters done in one night :D I hope this clears things up a little bit, but even more details are on the way when she tells Ellis the story :)**

**My spell check goes insane every time Ellis talks…..XD**


	5. Niisan

"**Curing the infected, one bullet at a time." Godly. XD has anyone else noticed that the slogans for the campaigns in the first game are awesome but in the second one they suck? No…? yes…? ANYWAY here we go!~ chapter 5!**

…

_I'll peel out my fangs_

_And bite against you_

_It's ok, because you enjoy the pain right?_

"Two years ago, I lost my memory after being hit by a car. I couldn't remember anything about myself, who I was, where I lived, who my family was…..Alex and the rest of the girls had found me, and brought me here," I said, referring to the house.

"They told me I had been here before the accident, and that I needed to get back to work right away. I…I didn't know what to do. In my heart I knew everything was a lie, but in my mind I just let it go. What was I going to do if I didn't believe them? I needed someone, something…..to hold onto. And so I stayed here for a while."

"Did ya at least have some friends or somethin'?" Ellis asked. A small smile played at my lips.

"Kinda. We were the outcasts I guess you could say….We didn't fit in with the rest of the girls. We still had something to hold onto, something to keep us from entirely slipping away…." I explained quietly, "But everything changed after the first year. I slowly began to remember things, remember memories of my childhood. Sara and Bellatrix, my two friends, told me the truth shortly after my first memory…." I trailed off.

"and wha' was the truth?" Ellis asked quietly.

"I….I hadn't been a….a….what I am before the accident. Meygan, one of the girls, found me lying in the streets. She took me back to the house with her, when I woke up. They fed me the lie, and I believed it….I let them take over my life…." I whispered, the first few tears falling from my eyes. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders in an awkward hug.

"Then they were gone. He knew they had told me, and got rid of them. When the police showed up, we ditched the house, sold it to Francis and his biker gang, and we headed for Los Angeles where I spent the last year of my life. But I had changed _so much. _I felt so guilty, so….alone. And so I separated myself from anyone that came close, pushed away any emotions I had left. I was a cold, heartless bitch, who wanted nothing to do with happiness or sadness or friends. I was done with what I was, and I became what I am now: the Perfect Liar. That's what they called me. I could con any man, any woman. I brought in the most amount of money, and I basically got anything I wanted. Everything….everything but the one thing I wanted…." I whispered, even more tears fell from my eyes.

"I wanted emotion, a normal life, anything that would get me away….at first, I told myself…..to stop, to let it go….and so….i trained myself…." I murmured, flipping over my hands and exposing my scars, "to not feel anything. I knew…..i knew it was wrong, but I did it anyway. I couldn't stop myself….and now I'm paying for it….." I whispered. He pulled me into a tight hug, and I cried into his shoulder.

"Ah'm sorry Scar, you didn' deserve to go through all tha' shit," He said soothingly. I just clung to him tighter. _What are you doing? _My mind screamed. I told it to shut up.

"Do…do you have any family left….?" I asked slowly. he shrugged.

"ah'm hopin' mah buddy Keith and Dave are ok, and my little sister, but I haven't seen her since she went missing…." He said. I pulled away from the hug and looked at him, expecting him to continue.

"Mah little sis went missin' abou' two, three years ago. We never knew wha' happened to her, and now with the whole zombie apocalypse and shit, I dunno wha' to think. Is she alive? Was she already dead?" he explained.

"I'm sorry Ellis," I said. He smiled for a second, but it didn't reach his eyes.

"Did ah ever tell you bout the time my buddy Keith an' ah made fireworks? Now I dunno shit bout' chemicals, but….." he continued to ramble on about "Keith" apparently trying to distract himself from what we were talking about. The weird part? I actually found myself laughing. Then, another memory hit me.

"_Nii-san, when is Keith coming over?" I asked._

"_He's comin! He's comin! Just relax, ok?" He laughed. I smiled. I snatched the hat off my brother's head and stuck it on my own head. He loved that hat more than anything in the world, and he would kill anyone that touched it: except for me. He just smiled at me, and I smiled back._

"_Hey guys? Are ya home?" Keith called from the front door. I smiled again, and went to go let our guest in._

"Scar?" Ellis asked. I realized I hadn't been breathing, and my lungs were screaming for air. I took a deep breath, and thought about the memory. Ok, Ellis had a missing sister, a best friend named Keith, and I lost my memory. What were the odds that….no, there was noooo way…

"E-Ellis?" I asked, my voice shaking.

"Yeah?"

"Did your sister ever call you something special, like, like a nickname or something…?" I asked quietly.

"Sure she did, she called me…shit…wha' was that Japanese word….OH! Nii-san or some shit like that," He shrugged. I gasped.

"There is no way…." I murmured.

"what?"

"Ellis….i….i think we're…..we might be….." I stumbled over my own words. Forming a complete sentence was harder than it should have been.

"Scar?"

"It all makes sense….Nii-san is what I called him….Ellis, do you know what this means?" I asked him, a smile began to appear on my face.

"Wha' Scar?" he asked, his ability to sit still was long gone.

"Ellis I think…..I think I'm your missing sister."

…

**Sorry that was so short….ANYWAY! A little family twist! :DDDDD I know I put that in there REALLY fucking early, but I figured it was now or never, plus I couldn't figure out what else to put in here :P OK! SO! Now that the whole Ellis ordeal is kinda out of the way, we can start working on Nick! YAY!~**

**Nick: joy.**

**T-T you gotta suck the fun out of everything, don't you?**

**Nick: it's in the job description *smirks***

**ANYWAY. Review and get a hug from Nick!**

**Nick: WHAT? AGAIN?**


	6. Reflection

**And so we begin chapter 6! Yay! XD I'm sorry it took so damn long to update ;~; inspiration has like, disappeared off the face of the earth XD ANYWAY! As painful as this is going to be to write, let's begin! T3T**

…**..**

_There are so many men to replace you_

_I could just pick and toss them away_

_The little fantasy you have about me_

_Doesn't exist_

His eager look quickly turned into a smile.

"Damn, took ya long enough!" he laughed.

"You already knew?" I cried. "And you didn't tell me?"

"Man, I knew since the minute when I first saw ya! But when you didn't recognize me, it worried me a lot, so I was jus' waitin' to find out why, and well, here's my answer!" he explained. I shook my head incredulously.

"You should have told me," I smiled.

"Now if I did, how would ya have reacted?" He asked. I shrugged, but I knew the answer. I would have thought "Hells no!" and ran. But hey, here I am, planted in one spot.

"Although I wasn' totally sure it was yew at first, cause you're blonde and you were kinda brunette…." He trailed off.

"Hair dye, Ellis," I laughed. Just the thought that I had _living _family, sitting right in front of me, was enough to make me smile. Jesus, I hadn't smiled for real in a while…..

"Hey guys," Nick's voice came from the doorway, making me jump slightly, "We need everyone out in the main room."

"Okay," Ellis said with a smile. We got up quickly, and followed Nick to the main room. It was quiet, which gave me time to think.

Ok, let's go over the past few events of the previous forty-eight hours, shall we? I ran away from my home in Los Angeles, and ran back to Savannah. I met Nick at the club, and then stayed at the Vannah. Right. Then, the zombie outburst happened and everything went to hell. I brought them here to get guns, where we are now stuck, because a damned witch is in the way. Now I find out I'm related to Ellis: fabulous. The last part seemed to be the only upside to my life right now. So what did I do now? I still couldn't remember anything from my past, and I really had no idea who I was. Maybe I could try being different? Try being upbeat like Ellis is? Or should I just stay the way I was….? This was so frustrating!

"You know, if you guys want to have private conversations, you should really close doors behind you," Nick said, breaking the silence. It took a few seconds, but the meaning of his words sunk in.

"You were listening?" I demanded. He nodded. I was about ready to slap him.

"Ah wouldn' put it past 'im," Ellis said with a shrug. I sighed. Damn bastard…..We reached the main room, and only Coach and Rochelle were there.

"Where are the others?" I asked.

"They left already. They figured there was no point in wasting time here," Rochelle explained. I let out a silent "oh."

"So wha' did ya need us for?" Ellis asked.

"Well, we went to go check if the witch was still there: it turns out that there's three of them down there," Coach explained.

"_Three?" _ I cried. This was _not _looking good.

"And there's another problem," Nick said.

"Jesus Christ, what now?" I demanded.

"They stole the car."

"_They stole my car….?" _I asked quietly.

"Yeah…..It was Francis's idea….." Rochelle said quietly. Oh if that bastard didn't die at the hands of the zombies, his ass would be _mine. _

"THAT BASTARD!" I snapped.

"So leh me get this straigh': We 'ave no ammo, no guns, and no car. Wha' the hell are we gonna do?" Ellis cried.

"I don't know Ellis; if we knew we would have told you!" Nick spat at him.

"Hey! Don't talk to him that way!" I defended him. Nick laughed at me.

"Oh joy, the little sister comes in to save the day," he rolled his eyes at me, "How pathetic."

"Nick, chill out ok?" Rochelle said calmly.

"Hey," Nick said, putting his hands up in defense, "At least I didn't get my friends killed." I took in a sharp intake of breath. He didn't just say that….. I felt like I had just been punched in the gut.

"You bastard!" I yelled, and lunged for him. Ellis tried to stop me, but I socked Nick in the face before he could grab me. Nick's nose started bleeding, and he looked shocked for a second. Then, his facial expression turned into one of hate.

"You little bitch!" he yelled. He came at me, but Rochelle and Coach held him back. Tears formed in my eyes, and I continued to struggle against Ellis's hold.

"I HATE YOU!" I yelled. I pushed Ellis off of me, and ran. I booked it down the hallway, and heard Ellis yell for me behind me. I could hear him yelling at Nick, but I didn't care what he was saying. I ran to the bathroom, and locked the door behind me. I collapsed against the sink, and cried.

I looked up at my reflection in the mirror. My eyes were red and puffy, and my hair was a mess. My hand that I hit him with hurt like hell. Then, something changed. My reflection wasn't…..me anymore. It was smirking at me, as if it were mocking me.

_Look at how weak and pathetic you are, _It whispered. My own reflection was talking to me. Was I hallucinating, or was I going insane…?

_He's right you know; you're the reason they're dead, _it laughed at me.

"Shut up!" I growled at it. It's smirk only seemed to grow larger.

_And who knows? You'll probably get your brother killed too, _It whispered.

"N-no….I won't let Ellis die…." I whispered, trying to convince myself more than actually believing it. It scoffed at me.

_Of course you will! You're weak Scarlette. You can't even remember him! So what could he possibly mean to you, if you don't even know him? _

I couldn't say anything. I was going insane…..I knew it…..

_And when he's gone, you'll end up just like before. Alone and heartless. You'll have to keep train yourself all over again, until your skin is stained red with your own blood. _It laughed at me.

"SHUT UP!" I yelled, and smashed my fist against the mirror. It shattered under the force from my hand. I felt my warm blood spread on my skin.

"Scarlette? Are yew ok?" Ellis's voice came from behind the door. I was breathing heavily, and I looked back at the small part of the mirror that was still intact. My reflection looked like me again: and I was apparently scared.

"Scar!" Ellis called again. I snapped back into reality, and unlocked the door. He opened the door, and saw what I had done.

"Jesus Scar….." he whispered.

"I'm sorry…." I whispered. I didn't look up at him, and felt more tears fall from my eyes. His arms wrapped around me, and I collapsed against him.

"Don' apologize, I know he pissed ya off," he said soothingly. He then noticed my hand.

"You're bleedin' again…." He half sighed, half laughed, "C'mon, let's go get ya fixed up." He led me out of the bathroom, and back to the main room. He kept his arm around me and held me protectively. As hard as I tried, my reflection's words kept swimming around in my head. _Push him away, don't get attached. _My conscious whispered to me.

"What happened?" Rochelle asked.

"She punched the mirror," Ellis laughed weakly. Thankfully Nick wasn't in the room, so I wasn't as on-edge. Ellis wrapped up my hand, and smiled at me. I weakly smiled back, but I found it difficult.

"Don't worry Young'un, Nick got his ass chewed out by your brother over there after you ran," Coach said with a small laugh.

"You told them?" I asked Ellis. He nodded. Rochelle yawned, and stood up.

"I think it's about time we hit the hay," Rochelle said weakly.

"Who's gonna take first watch?" Coach asked.

"I'm sure as hell not," Nick said from behind me. The rage from earlier burned in the pit of my stomach, and I tried my best to ignore it.

"I'll take first watch, you all get some sleep," I said stiffly, not looking at Nick.

"I say we all just sleep out here in the main room, to stay safe," Rochelle suggested.

"At least pull some mattresses from the beds or something," I muttered. They all nodded in agreement. I grabbed a few of the guns, and went and sat next to the large door. Ellis watched me worriedly for a second, but then went to go get bed supplies. After a few minutes, everyone had a mattress and a blanket.

"Night everyone," Coach said. A few of us replied, but I didn't.

"Hey Scar?" My brother whispered. I looked over at him, but didn't say anything. "I'll take watch after yur done, ok?" I nodded, and looked back towards the door.

Now I was alone: just me and my thoughts. This was going to be a _long _night.

….

**I'm going to end it there, cause I'm kind of running out of time to write XD trust me, I would have made it longer, but I know it would have taken too long to write….so….. review? :}**


	7. Fallen Angel

**Chapter seven! Yay! XD let us begin :}**

…**..**

_I pretend to act like an obedient dog_

_And laugh at you through my cat-like eyes_

_Do you really think you own me?_

_**Think again.**_

Sitting there was not a good idea; then again, sleep probably wouldn't have been either. Either way, I would still be drowning in my thoughts. I wrapped my arms around my knees, and sighed. How long had I been sitting here? Too damn long, that was for sure.

_Don't get attached. _The words swam through my head for the millionth time. I tried to cringe away, but I couldn't. It was like the words were permanently etched into my brain, and I was never going to get them out.

I looked over at my brother, who was sleeping peacefully. I smiled slightly, but it soon disappeared. _What does he think of me now? _I wondered. Did he think of me as some kind of disgrace, like the rest of society? Or did he still remember me as his Scarlette….? I sighed again, and leaned back against the door. I closed my eyes for a second, and tried to rub the sleep from my face.

"You're not falling asleep on the job are you?" a low voice asked. My eyes shot open, and I looked at the reason for my pain. Nick was standing in front of me, with a smirk on his face.

"Go away," I mumbled. He didn't listen, and sat down in front of me.

"Alright, I guess I'll start out my damned apology by saying…..sorry….." he had to force the word out which made me laugh a little, "and that what I said was uncalled for. I guess I was just letting off some steam….and I deserved that punch," he said with a frown. His nose was purple, which made me grin even more. _Smiling at someone else's pain, you really are disgusting. _My mind scoffed at me. I ignored it.

"Ellis put you up to this, didn't he?" I laughed dryly. He nodded.

"Ok, now that we've established that…..go back to bed. I _really _don't feel like talking to you right now," I whispered. He smirked at me, and stayed where he was.

"_Go awaaaay," _I hissed.

"The more you fight it the longer I'm going to sit here," he smirked. God fucking damn it. I leaned my head back against the door, and sighed.

"Do I bug you?"

"Immensely so."

"Heh, great." I groaned involuntarily. Jesus, I was going to kill him! I swear I was!

"Do you wanna know what my problem is? _You _are my god damn problem," I found myself venting, "You, the infection, the witches, the entire god damn world. Oh, sure, everything's gone to hell. Sure, yeah, I found my brother that I _can't even fuckin remember. _And to just top it all off, I have to deal with _your _god damn bullshit," my voice rose with every word, but then I began to get quieter, "Do you even know what's its like? To know that you have family, but you don't remember them? To know that your friends are dead, and you're the reason they aren't living? Do you even…..understand….?" I was whispering at this point. My head was pressed against my knees, and I refused to look at him.

"No. I don't. But I do know what it feels like to be alone. To be cold, heartless, emotionless. I _know _you know what that feels like. You were known as the Perfect Liar, am I right? That name doesn't sound like a name given without meaning. You said so yourself: You shut yourself out from the world around, to try to not risk getting hurt. I got news for you sweetheart; the world's gonna bite you in the ass, weather you want it to or not," he said. I remained quiet, unsure of what to say.

Hadn't I already known that? That I was only hurting myself by cutting myself off? No. I don't think I had. Maybe somewhere, deep down inside, I had known. But what about now? Do I continue to cut myself off? Or…..or do I get attached again?

"And the Perfect Liar is silent," Nick mused.

"_Don't call me that." _My head snapped up, and I looked at him with a dark glare. His face showed shock for a second, but then he regained his composure.

"I thought you said that was your name…?" he asked with a smirk.

"It _was. _I am _never _going to be that…._thing _again," I didn't know who was talking. Was it the old Scarlette? Or was I really just sick of this life?

"So what? Do you really think you can just change whenever the hell you feel like it? Not a chance Sweetheart. You may think you can, but you won't. Not by a long shot," he said darkly. My hands curled up into fists, and I tried my hardest to breath correctly.

"I have to…." I whispered, "I can't stay this way….I can't be….this…..disgrace…."

"Your not a disgrace," he muttered faintly.

"Then what am I then?" I snapped. He thought about it for a second.

"A fallen angel," he said with a justified smirk. Jesus Christ….

"Ok. Fine. I'm a fallen angel. Fallen from grace, and my damned wings are gone. So what do I do now? Can I get my wings back? Or am I stuck in this god forsaken hell hole?" God was laughing at me right now. I knew he was. Or maybe he thought it would be a good joke to pull. HAHAHA GOD! YOU GOT ME! I'M LAUGHING! I wasn't laughing. At all.

"Who cares about a pair of god damn wings?" He snorted.

"I do. I want them back…." I whispered.

"No you don't." he sounded so strong, so sure of it…..I couldn't help but crack a smile. So Nick was the all knowing God now? Eh, I guess I could live with that. I yawned, and stretched my stiff muscles.

"I think I'm going to wake Ellis up," I sighed.

"Alright…" Nick whispered. We both got up stiffly, and he headed for his bed.

"Night Scar," he said.

"Night Nick," I responded softly, then shook my brother awake. He opened his eyes slowly, and I waited a few moments.

"Rise and shine, sleeping beauty. It's your turn to take watch," I whispered. I handed him the gun as he sat up, and headed for my bed.

"Get some sleep, 'k Scar?" he whispered to me. I nodded, and laid my head against the pillow.

"Night….Nii-san…." I mumbled. My eyes closed and I waited for sleep. Thoughts of Nick and angel wings floated through my mind as I drifted off to sleep.

…

**Sorry that was so short ^-^;; the next shall be longer! I swear! XD the climax type ish thing is about to happen, SO BE READY! :D (then again, there will probably be a lot of those T.T) ANYWAY!~ it's like, I want to put NickXScarlette moments in here, but obviously, a lot of factors are going to pop up here and there =3= plus, I'm not going to make them like each other right off the bat. Love don't work that way XD as much as I want it to….. (bleh) OK!**

**Inspiration for this chapter:**

**Animal I have become – three days grace :D**


	8. Gaining back my wings

_This little scenario I've drawn out_

_Is a drama much like a tragedy_

_Carry your false illusions of me_

_And go to sleep._

_The number of lies I piled up_

_And the number of skins I grinded with_

_Between them you could sometimes see_

_The scars._

_You will never know the face under the mask_

_I will deceive you until the very end_

_Until you go crazy._

I woke up to the sound of crying. And I don't mean "little tears" type crying, this was wailing, I'm-going-to-die-of-sadness crying. _Not good. _My eyes shot open, and I sat up quickly. The others were all waking up as well, and Nick seemed to be the only one that had been up.

"The witches started moving! They're right down the hall!" he whispered urgently, handing me one of the guns.

"We have to kill them now, or else they're going to kill us," he explained quietly. I nodded, and got up out of the bed. Coach, Rochelle, and Ellis got up at the same time I did. We all had guns in our hands, ready to take down the witches.

"What are we aiming for?" Rochelle asked.

"Bill said somethin' about head shots, or crowning…." Coach murmured.

"Aim for the head," Ellis concluded. As we silently headed for the hallway, Ellis grabbed onto my arm, and pulled me back a little. I was confused at first, but he pulled me into a quick hug.

"Jus' in case one of us doesn' make it out…." He explained quietly. The thought didn't sit well in my mind. _Please let Ellis live….let all of us live. _I prayed silently. The thought didn't even pass that I could possibly be the one to die.

As we came around the corner, I spotted them: the two witches had dirty, long blonde hair, and dark grey skin. Their clothing looked like it had been torn to bits. Giant claws covered their faces. One sat on the ground at the end of the hallway, while the other walked around sluggishly. We were as quiet as possible, and we tried to sneak up on them.

The first spotted us, and her cries turned into shrieks. We raised our guns, and aimed for her head. As she came running at us, we fired. The bullet found their mark; and the witch hit the ground…dead. The second was alerted of our presence, and stood quickly. She screamed, and charged us with her arms outstretched. She came close; way too close. She was only a few feet away when we fired, and took her down. The problem? We still heard crying.

"Wait….there were three…weren't there?" Rochelle asked quietly. The startled scream confirmed it; there was a third witch, and she was coming for us. As I turned, I saw her heading straight for Nick. _No. _was all I could think. I felt the adrenaline kick in, and I looked over at my brother. It was only a matter of seconds…..

"NO!" I cried, and launched myself in-between the infected and the con man. I felt the witch's claws connect with my stomach, and cried out in pain. Her face was even with mine, and she was apparently shocked that she had stabbed me. I raised my gun as she pulled her claws out of me, and fired a bullet in between her eyes. She fell to the ground, and I followed.

"SCARLETTE!" I heard someone scream. My vision was blurry, and I hadn't even felt myself hit the ground. Warm blood flowed from the wounds like a waterfall. _I'm going to die._

"Scarlette! Can you hear me?" I heard someone cry…it sounded like Nick.

"Y-yeah…." I choked out. I was losing too much blood, and my eye sight was dimming out.

"Don't….don't let me….die….." I whispered, tears brimming in my eyes.

"Scar, yur gonna be ok, I promise! Where the hell is the med kit?" I heard….Ellis cry.

"Grab the defib unit! We may need it!" Nick yelled. I reached out for something, for someone, and two hands found mine.

"You're going to be ok."

"Yur gonna be ok."

The voices were quiet, and I felt myself letting go. My breathing was labored, and I felt my heart giving out. I choked out a few more tears.

"I love you Nii-san…." I whispered.

"Don' ya DARE leave me Scar!" he yelled, but I could barely hear him.

"Hey…Nick?"

"Yeah Scar?"

"Do you….do you think I…got my wings back….?" I cracked a small smile, and breathed my last breath. My heart beat stops, and I'm gone. _Goodbye….._

"_GET THE GOD DAMN DEFIB UNIT!" Nick cried._

"_SCAR! COME BACK!" Ellis yelled. I can tell he's crying. Don't cry Nii-san!_

"_Ellis! Start patching her up, and I'll try to revive her," Nick instructed._

"_What happens if we can revive her? She's lost too much blood already…." Rochelle whispered. Neither Nick nor Ellis responded._

_**Wake up Scarlette. **_

The gentle voice called out to me. My eyes shot open, and I wasn't where I was expecting myself to be; I was still in the house. I looked around for a second, and realized what was happening.

There, on the floor in front of me, was my body. Nick was turning the defib unit on while muttering a long string of profanities, and Ellis was trying to heal my stomach.

"They want you back," the voice said behind me. I spun, and saw a man and a woman standing before me. The woman had light brunette hair, and emerald green eyes. She was smiling at me with such….love. The man stood next to her with his arm around her waist. He had light blonde hair, and beautiful blue eyes; _my eyes. _

"M-mom…..dad….?" I asked quietly. They nodded, smiling even more. They held out their arms, and I quickly ran into them. I hugged them, as if we were solid, living beings again.

"They're going to do everything they can to get you back, so we don't have much time sweetie," mom explained. I nodded.

"Are there…..are there any others?" I asked. Another form appeared next to me: _Sara. _

"S-Sara?" I felt tears form in my eyes. She nodded, and hugged me.

"It's not your fault sweetheart, I swear," She whispered, "Bellatrix is still alive, and you have to find her, ok?" I was shocked. Bellatrix was still alive…

"And I know you won't remember me," another voice said, and I turned again. The young girl looked only a little bit older than me, and had dark black hair. The way her eyes were shaped suggested that she was of Asian descent.

"_watashi ha , anataga watashi notameni Scarlette wo oboe teinainowo shitte imasuga , anataha kekkyoku , shiru deshou . Ellis hasorenitsuite tashika merudeshou . watashi ha , shitte hoshii totada omoi masu ... anataha oboe teimasenga ... watashi haanatanotameni Scarlette gatotemo suki desu . anataha watashi no kokoro deitsumo watashi no imouto ninarudeshou ." _She was speaking an entirely different language, but yet, I knew what she was saying.

_I know you don't remember me Scarlette, but you will eventually. Ellis will make sure of that. I just want you to know...even though you don't remember...I love you Scarlette. You will always be my little sister in my heart._

I smiled, as if I could still remember this girl.

"_oboe teinainowo shitte imasu , soshite , watashi ha zannen desu . i gasousurubekidearunowo shitte imasu . anatawo ushinau noga kare nimo konnan deattanowo shitte irunode , watashi ha nii sanni modora nakerebanarimasen . watashi no kokoroha anatawo oboe teimasenga , watashi no shinzou haanatawo oboe teimasu ... Kanade-chan ..." _I responded. I didn't even know where the words came from, but they were spilling from my mouth, fluently and beautifully.

_I know i don't remember, and I'm sorry. I know I should. I have to go back to Nii-san, because I know that losing you was hard on him too. Even though my mind doesn't remember you, my heart remembers you...kanade-chan..._

She smiled.

"Go back to Nii-san, imouto-chan….he misses you," She whispered.

"Move out of the way!" Nick yelled, and placed the chest paddles on my dead chest. He hits the button, and I feel myself fade in and out.

"They're taking you away already…." Mom sighed sadly.

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

"Don't be," Dad said.

"We love you Scarlette," Sara chipped in.

"And don't you ever forget it."

"CLEAR!" another shock, another fade. I'm still surrounded by them.

"Tell Ellis we love him, ok? And that we're proud of him," Dad said. I nodded.

"Tell him to never let go of you," Kanade-chan smiled. I smile one last time at my family.

"I love you all."

"CLEAR!" The final cry is cried, and I close my eyes.

….

My eyes shot open and I took in a shaky breath. My stomach hurt, along with my chest. I let out a groan.

"Scarlette!" My brother nearly cried, and grabbed me in a hug. It was a little difficult since my stomach was still tender and he was trying to not hurt it.

"I'm….I'm alive?" I asked. He nodded. Nick was still sitting next to me. I wanted to sit up, but my stomach still hurt _really _badly.

"I fucking hate witches…." I muttered. "And now I can't even get up…."

"Here, let me help you," Nick volunteered, and gently picked me up bridal style. He shifted my weight a little, so I didn't have any stress on my stomach.

"Damn you're heavy," he laughed.

"Shuddup," I muttered.

"Well, I think we've had enough death for today, what do you guys think?" Rochelle said playfully.

"Agreed," Coach chuckled.

"It's jus' nice to have you back…" Ellis murmured. I looked over at my brother and smiled.

"Mom and dad say they love you and they miss you. They're very proud of you too. Oh, and Kanade-chan gave me specific instructions that you are to never let go of me," I said. His face showed how shocked he was.

"Can I go lie down? I'm really tired," I murmured, laying my head against Nick's shoulder.

"Yeah," he smiled, and carried me out to the main room. He gently set me down on one of the beds, and made sure I was comfortable.

"Hey Scar….?" Nick whispered.

"Mmmm…?"

"Thanks."

"For what…?"

"Taking that hit for me. I'm just glad….that….that we didn't lose you…." He said quietly. I cracked a smile. The con man was going soft.

"You're welcome…." I mumbled, and then drifted off to sleep.

_**With a clean cut sharper than a piece of glass**_

_**Take the truth flowing from the wound**_

_**And burn it into your heart**_

…

**I killed her. Then brought her back to life. XD I actually expected that to be the span of two chapters…but since…ya know…im not very good at writing long chapters…..bleeeeh…..**

**Nick: neither are you good at author's notes *smirks***

**Ellis: Shoot Nick, I though' she's been doin' a good job :D**

**Thank you Ellis.**

**Scarlette: Why haven't I been featured in any of these yet?**

**Eto….i dunno o.o**

**Scarlette: T-T**

**Nick: T.T**

**Ellis: …. :D**

**Well then….eto….REVEIWERS GET VIRTUAL L4D COOKIES AND SODA!~~~~ XD (review now and we'll throw in the bonus Ellis!)**

**Ellis: your sellin me…?**

**Not at all! *cough* yeah *cough***

**Scarlette: review for all of our hard work?**

**OUR? YOU MEAN MINE?**

**Scarlette: HEY. I DIED FOR YOU. SO STFU.**

**;~; fine. Review please!**

***cue pointless rambling that the characters of this story will not interrupt***

**That actually ended the song o.o hehehehe….i dunno if I'm going to add a new song to put in at the beginnings, because more songs will show up later in the story :) so….this wasn't really much of a ramble, was it? Neh…I think I just wanted to get to over two-thousand reviews, ya know?**

**Anyone a Vocaloid fan here? XD a lot of Vocaloid songs shall be featured in the story :3 ALSO! The Japanese thing….Kanade-chan…..they will both be explained soon :D YEAH. (that was the 2,000 word lol) YAY! I can stop my pointless rambling now even though I don't really seem to be stopping! OK! NOW I AM!**

**REVIEW! :DDDDDD**


	9. Protective

**IM SO SORRY I HAVENT UPDATED IN FOREVER. I THOUGHT I UPLOADED THIS CHAPTER BUT I APPARENTLY DID NOT. LKJDFALKSDJFLASKDJF I AM SOOOOO SOOOOO SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO SOORRRRRRY!**

…**.**

_There were hundreds of them; hundreds of witches surrounding me. I was so afraid….and so alone. I bumped into one, and it was startled by the sudden contact. They all began crying and flailing their arms, and I screamed._

"_Scarlette!" I heard a voice echo. I opened my eyes, and there was Nick. He was being mauled by the witches, and he was losing blood fast._

"_Scar!" another voice yelled. I turned again, and I saw Ellis. Both of them were being ripped to shreds, but I didn't know who to run to._

"_this is what you get Scarlette!" one of the witches cried._

"_It's your own fault for getting attached!"_

"_They should have left you dead!"_

"_They would have been better off without you!"_

"Scarlette!" the real voice shook me from my dream. I inhaled deeply and opened my eyes. Nick was sitting next to me. Tears had formed in my eyes, and my hands were shaking. I wrapped my arms around him and cried against his shoulder. He held me for a few minutes and didn't say anything. My tears slowed down after a few minutes and I pulled away from him.

"I hate nightmares," I whispered, rubbing the last of my tears away.

"You were talking in your sleep," Nick said, "You said my name, and I thought you woke up but….you were still sleeping….then you said 'Ellis' and you started crying."

"oh…." the nightmare was definitely the worst I had had in a while. I looked around, and realized it was nighttime. Damn, had I really slept that long?

"Go back to bed, you still need to rest," he said quietly. Why was he so concerned about me now?

"No," I said stubbornly. I knew if I went back to sleep now, the nightmare would come right back. He sighed, and leaned against the wall. We sat in silence for a few moments.

"Why?"

"hmmm?"

"Why did you jump in front of her?" he asked. _Why __**did**__ I jump in front of the witch? _I didn't have an answer.

"I…I don't know…." I shrugged.

"You shouldn't have," he muttered.

"Why not?" I demanded.

"You _died, _Scarlette. We had to bring you back with the god damn defib unit. _I _should have been the one to take the hit, not you. That was a reckless stunt, and I don't ever want you to that again," he said sternly. A small smile formed on my lips. _He cares. _I wrapped my arms around him again, and leaned against him.

"Yeah yeah….ok…." I murmured. He seemed a little shocked by the embrace, and to be truthful, so was I. Maybe I just needed a hug?

"Your going soft con man," I smirked. He rolled his eyes, but wrapped his arms around me protectively.

"I am not," he defended himself.

"are too!~"

"are not."

"are too!~"

"alright alright! You win," he muttered in defeat. I smiled. _Hey, maybe jumping in front of him wasn't such a bad idea. He's actually being __**nice. **_

"go back to bed, your annoying me," he smirked.

"No," I said again.

"_go back to bed."_

"No." I stuck my tongue out at him like a little kid. I was smiling, just like I had smiled when I was around Ellis. I didn't get it; one minute, I hated the guy, and now here I am with my arms wrapped around him, laughing as if we're good friends. _What the hell…._

Then again, I had jumped in front of the witch for him, but did that change anything? And why had I jumped?

"You ok?" he asked. I nodded. I must have been zoning out again…..

"What did you mean earlier…when you said those things to Ellis?" he asked. What had i…OH!

"I saw…I saw my family," I said quietly, "My mom….dad….Sara was there too, and she said Bellatrix was still alive…..and, and….." I felt small tears form in my eyes. "There was another girl there…I…I called her Kanade-chan…I think….maybe she was my sister…or something? I couldn't remember her…" I whispered. He held me closer, and i didn't pull away.

"It's sad, but at least you got to see them again…." He said calmly. I nodded, and smiled.

"Thanks Nick," I whispered.

"No problem," he smirked, "Now will you go to bed?" I sighed, but I gave up.

"Yeah…but…but you have to stay with me, ok?" I said quietly, not meeting his gaze. I felt like a small child, and he was…..my teddy bear. I laughed at the thought. He raised an eyebrow, but I didn't care to explain.

"Hey Nick?"

"Jesus….What now?"

"Do you think I got my wings back?" I asked again. The same words I had breathed before I….I died.

"Yeah," he chuckled, "I think you did." I closed my eyes, and laid my head against his chest. Then I drifted off into sleep.

…..

_I was standing on top of a cloud. What I was doing up there, I didn't know. The weird part? I had wings. Big white feathery wings. I stretched them out experimentally, and they moved as I willed them to. I took a running jump, and lifted off into the air. Instead of falling to my death, I actually found myself flying through the sky._

"_Scarlette!" Someone called me. I looked over to my left side, and noticed Ellis flying with me. He had wings too. I smiled at him, and continued to fly. The wind flowed through my hair, and the air was refreshing. I flew through a cloud, but when I came out, Ellis was gone._

"_Ellis?" I called out, and looked around me. He wasn't there._

"_Scarlette look out!" his voice called, but I didn't see him. Then, as if they were slashed from my back, my wings were gone. I was falling through the air, heading straight for the ground below. I finally spotted Ellis, but he seemed to be hundreds of miles above me._

"_Ellis!" I cried, but my voice was lost in the wind. Then, I felt gentle arms wrap around me. I was no longer falling, but suspended in mid-air. I looked over at who had caught me, only to find Nick holding me. He didn't have wings either, but was still….flying. He smirked at me, and we floated up towards Ellis. He set me down on another cloud, and Ellis landed next to us. He smiled at me, and went to take my hand, but Nick held me back._

"_She doesn't need them anymore," he said coldly. Ellis grabbed my hand anyway._

"_Yes, she does," Ellis argued. He tugged on my arm, but Nick still held on._

"_Let her go," Nick growled._

"_Let her decide what she wants," Ellis growled right back. They let go, and both held out their hands expectantly._

"_Pick me Scarlette."_

"_Pick me Scar."_

_I didn't know which one to pick. Do I pick Ellis, and my past life….or Nick, and my new one? _

"_I-i….I can't decide," I whispered, and fell through the cloud, into the black._

My eyes shot open, and I sat up quickly. I was alone, which obviously meant Nick was gone. _Where did he go? _

I looked around, and realized the sun was already up. Rochelle, Coach, and Ellis were all missing too. Sitting up quickly hadn't exactly been nice to my wounds, but I ignored it and got up anyway. As I stood, a wave of dizziness hit, and I stumbled a little. I leaned against the wall for a few seconds, and closed my eyes. The dizzy spell went away quickly.

My stomach gurgled at me, which I took as a sign that I was hungry. I made my way to the kitchen, hoping to find food. What I found was Rochelle and Coach sitting at the table with worried looks on their faces. It changed after they spotted me.

"Morning sweetie," Rochelle said with a smile, "How are you feeling?"

"Better. My stomach doesn't hurt as bad…..Do we have any food?" My stomach gurgled again. She nodded, and got up as I sat down. Coach was working on reloading some guns.

"So…..where are Ellis and Nick?" I asked. Rochelle didn't answer, and continued to make me what looked like a bowl of cereal, and Coach took a deep breath. He looked up at me with a worried expression.

"Ellis wasn't exactly too happy to find you and Nick….er….snuggling this morning," he cracked a smile, but his expression went back to being serious. I felt myself blush slightly.

"He said 'I wanna talk to you," Rochelle finished, sliding the bowl of cereal in front of me, "and dragged him off somewhere."

"How long ago was this?" I asked.

"A few minutes, maybe," Coach said. I downed my cereal as quickly as possible, and stood up.

"I'm going to go find them. I don't my protective older brother breaking anything or anyone," I joked. They nodded.

"Oh, and when are we leaving?" I asked.

"Whenever you feel fit enough to travel," Rochelle said. I nodded, and left the kitchen. I walked down the hallways, trying to locate my brother and Nick. I heard the faint sound of talking, and I quickly walked closer. I approached one of the doorways, and stood against the wall.

"So what your saying is, you don't trust me and you want me to keep my hands off your sister, right?" Nick said.

"Yeah, tha's exactly wha' I'm sayin," Ellis responded coldly. I heard Nick let out a small laugh.

"She wanted me to stay with her last night," Nick defended himself.

"she had jumped in fron' of a frickin witch for ya, Nick! Of course she was gonna wanna be close to you. But wha' I'm sayin is I dun trust you with her emotions. She's already goin through enough shit right now, and she don't need you screwin with her either," Ellis said. And the protective big brother steps in to protect the little sister….. I sighed. Should I go in there? Or should I wait?

"I'm not screwing with her, Ellis. That's what I'm trying to tell you. I was there because she wanted me to be, ok? And you can't kill me just because I feel protective of her now," Nick said harshly.

"But why? Why do yew feel protective of her now?" Ellis questioned.

"Jesus Christ Ellis, she _died _because of me. We were lucky enough that we were able to bring her back. What were to happen if another one of us was going to get hurt? She's going to continually do this until she _dies._ Weather its jumping in front of you, or me, or Coach, or Rochelle; it won't matter to her. You know if she jumped in front of me, that she would do it for any one of you," Nick said.

"It's true," I said, appearing in the doorway. Ellis jumped slightly; Nick didn't look shocked at all. In fact, he was actually smirking.

"You may not like that fact, but you know it's true. I would rather die than see any of you get hurt," I said. Where had the sudden affection come from? The need to survive of course.

"I still dun trust 'im," Ellis muttered. I smiled.

"Neither do I," I saw Nick crack a smile out of the corner of my eye, "But you have to remember the only way we're going to get out of here is to trust each other. So just….try to contain yourself, alright?" He nodded, but I saw him shoot a glare Nick's way. I sighed. This was going to be difficult….

"So I don't get scolded?" Nick joked. I rolled my eyes at him, but couldn't help but smile. Ellis frowned.

"We need to get moving. Rochelle and Coach are waiting for us," I said. They nodded, and we all left the room. the tension could still be felt between the two of them, which i really didn't like...But a sudden jolt of pain through my stomach caused me to fall to the ground, and cry out in pain.

….

**Bleeeeeeh…..i hated this chapter. It makes absolutely no sense what so ever. Maybe it was more like a filler…? Yeah….lets go with that….. ^-^;; review plz?**


	10. Differences Between Us

**I couldn't resist posting this chapter. So for all of you that are staying by me, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR GIVING ME THE WILL TO WRITE! You have no idea how much it means to me that people actually like this story :') most of you actually did make me cry with your kind reviews. Thank you again!**

**IMPORTANT! I will now be switching over to third person! I realize that my stories are a lot better when I'm not writing from one person's point of view, so I have a feeling the story with flow a lot nicer, and won't suck as much anymore ^-^**

…

With a small cry, Scarlette fell to the ground, gripping her stomach. Both Nick and Ellis were quick to react, and were by her side in an instant.

"What happened!"

"Wha' didja do?" they both demanded. She couldn't respond for a second, and took in a deep breath.

"I was killed by a witch, that's what…." She muttered, rising unsteadily. That hand that had gripped her wound was now covered in blood, along with the bandages that covered it.

"C'mon, let's go heal you up," Nick sighed, and went to go help her, but Ellis beat him to it. Scarlette couldn't care less about who was helping her at the moment; her head was spinning, and her stomach hurt worse than she would have preferred. She leaned against her brother, and he helped her walk back to the main room. Nick was slightly pissed off, but shook it off.

"What happened to Scarlette?" Rochelle asked when they entered the room.

"She got a pain in her stomach, and collapsed," Nick clarified. Rochelle nodded, and grabbed a health pack. Nick lifted Scarlette up onto the table, so that they could tend to her wounds easily. She leaned back against the wall, and closed her eyes. Ellis and Nick let Rochelle tend to Scarlette's wounds, and stood back while she worked.

Rochelle peeled back the bandages, causing Scarlette to squirm slightly. Rochelle apologized, but gasped when she saw what was underneath. The wounds had turned a dark red, and there was green puss surrounding them. It looked sticky, and to be honest, quite gross.

"If that's not infected, I don't know what is," Rochelle said. Scarlette opened her eyes, and looked at her stomach. She felt bile rise in her throat, but she kept it down.

"Who knows what was on her claws," She said. Rochelle sighed, and grabbed a cloth from the bag.

"I'm going to have to disinfect it," She said, grabbing the Neosporin. She lightly pressed on Scarlette's wounds, only to have her cry out in pain.

"Sorry sorry sorry!" she apologized, and held up for a second.

"It's ok, just get it over with," Scarlette mumbled. A few minutes and painful touches later, Rochelle had cleaned the wounds to the best of her ability. She wrapped it up with more gauze, and stepped back to admire her medical skills.

"Are you fit enough to travel?" Coach asked. Scarlette nodded, and hopped down from the table. A small spark of uneasiness crossed her face, but it disappeared instantly.

"We need to get going," She said, grabbing one of the guns off the table. She slung the AK-47 across her back, and grabbed two pistols. The others followed suit. They stepped up to the front door, and pulled the furniture that covered it away.

"Ready?" Nick asked. They nodded, and he opened the door. Only a few zombies were scattered around, and they killed off those that were close enough. A few cars lined the streets: a white van, a small maroon car, and a blue pickup truck.

"Alright, we have two options; the van, or the truck," Rochelle said.

"Let's see if either of them have gas first," Nick said. They made their way over to the van first, and tried to open the door; it was unlocked. They opened the door, and let Scarlette through. She pulled at the cover underneath the steering wheel, and went to work. Within a few minutes, she had the van running. Ellis checked the gas gauge, and it showed that the tank was only three fourths of the way full.

"It'll have tuh do," Ellis said.

"Who's driving?" Rochelle asked. No one volunteered.

"I will I guess," Coach said after a few seconds. He hopped into the driver's seat, and Rochelle hopped into the passenger side. Ellis, Nick, and Scarlette all found a spot in the back.

"Check the compartments for a map of some kind," Coach said. They began searching, when Rochelle found one in the glove box.

"Ok, so where are we currently?" Nick asked.

"Poolero," Scarlette answered immediately.

"And where are we heading?"

"New Orleans. That was the closest evacuating city," Rochelle said.

"Quickest way to get there?" Scarlette asked.

"Macon, Atlanta, Auburn, Montgomery, Mobile, and then we head straight for New Orleans," Coach said, looking over the map.

"How long do you think it'll take?" Ellis asked.

"A week, maybe a little more, if we have any delays," Rochelle shrugged.

"And this is by car, right?" Nick said. Rochelle nodded.

"Lovely. We probably have a better chance of dying, or CEDA not being there, ooooor not being able to find another car. Fabulous, just frickin fabulous," Nick concluded. Scarlette sighed. Coach tried to block him out, and began driving down the half empty road.

"Why you gotta be such a downer, man?" Ellis asked coldly.

"Hey, I'm just looking at the facts here Overalls. Why do you always have to be such a happy little fucker?" Nick's face remained calm, but his words were sharp. Scarlette snapped.

"_I swear to god if you don't shut up I'm going to shoot you both. Do you understand?" _She muttered darkly. Ellis was quiet, but Nick smirked at her.

"You wouldn't shoot me," He tested her. Scarlette let out a frustrated sigh, and leaned back against the van wall. Her stomach hurt, and she really didn't want to deal with it.

"Calm….calm…calm…." She repeated to herself.

"Calm yet?"

"_Shut up Nick." _

"Ok." It was silent in the van for the next five seconds.

"Did I ever tell you about the one time my buddy Keith-"

"Ellis, I love you and all, but can you please just give me a moment of silence?" Scarlette breathed deeply.

"Ok." The car was silent for at least the next ten minutes.

"Scar….?"

"Yes Ellis….?" Scarlette's headache had gone away, and her stomach pain had reduced to a small throb.

"Just outa curiosity, plus I haven't had a chance tuh ask ya yet, but wha' didja mean the other day….when you said the thing about mom…and dad….and….Kanade….?" He asked. Scarlette tried to recall her time in the afterlife.

"I saw them Ellis," She started, smiling slightly. "I recognized them immediately, I don't know how….but Kanade-Chan, I don't remember her….Who is she?"

"Sister."

"….Japanese sister….?"

"Mom and dad adopted her, after they had me," Ellis said, "They were told by the doctors that they weren't goin' tuh be able to have another kid after me….and they adopted Kanade into the family. But then we found out abou' you….We were lucky, cause the doctors said you weren't gonna make it past a few weeks, and if mom made it through, you would probably be still born. But you came out nine months later, healthy as ever. You shudda seen the look on the doc's face, it was priceless!" he laughed.

"So it was you, me, Kanade, mom, and dad?" Scarlette concluded. Ellis nodded.

"Kanade went nuts over ya Scar- I did too, course- but it was like she had gotten a gift from god or somethin'! Course you adored her too. You used to follow her around, almost like her shadow. It was cute," Ellis smiled at the memories. Scarlette started smiling as well, because with every word, another memory re-appeared. Ellis's smile soon turned into a sad one.

"Then we found out about the cancer…."

"…what?"

"Kanade was really sick, and we didn't know what it was….We took her to the doc and everything, turns out she had Leukemia. She was only nineteen too….."

"How….how old were we?"

"I was fourteen, you were eleven."

"….What age did….she….she….d-die….?" Scarlette was having a hard time forcing it out. She was just now getting back her memories of her, the emotions coming along with it.

"Twenty-five. We thought it went away sometime around twenty-two, but it came back a few years later. She died a few days after her birthday," Ellis had tears forming in his eyes, but they didn't spill over.

"That's how we lost you too. You were so upset….You ran from the hospital, and we tried to find ya, but ya didn' come home…..Now it was just me, mom, and dad. Ya don't know what it did tuh mom…."

"I was stupid." Scarlette said harshly.

"no ya weren't," Ellis said softly.

"Of course I was! I shouldn't have run! I should have been there with my family! But no, instead I ended up causing you even more pain….." her voice faded.

"Don't blame yourself sweetie, you were in pain too," Rochelle said. Scarlette had almost forgotten about the other three.

"Besides, you got your brother back. I'm sure your sister doesn't mind," Coach added. Scarlette nodded. She took a deep breath, and tried to smile.

"what about you guys? You have any family left?" Scarlette asked, eager to get the topic off of her dead sister.

"My little sis was one of the first to get evacuated," Rochelle said, "I stayed behind to cover the infection."

"I lost my wife to the infection," Coach said, keeping his eyes on the road, "I didn't have any other family members or nothin."

Scarlette and Ellis looked to Nick expectantly, but he didn't say anything.

"Don't expect me to share just because you are," Nick said, crossing his arms. Silence fell over the survivors for the rest of the trip.

~oOo~

They traded off driving every few hours. Ellis and Rochelle had already taken their shifts, now it was Nick's turn.

"I hate driving…." He muttered as he hopped into the driver's seat. Scarlette was already seated in the passenger seat, since Ellis had driven right before Nick. She was curled up on the seat, her arms wrapped around her legs. A nightmare had already haunted her, and she didn't dare fall asleep again.

_Scarlette, Ellis, and her parents all sat around Kanade's bed. They did their best to hold back their tears, but they knew she didn't have much longer._

"_You made it so damn far….IT ISN'T FAR!" Scarlette pounded her fist against the wall. Kanade watched her sister with sad eyes. She barely had any strength left, and she could hardly speak._

"_Scarlette, sweetie, calm down," Their mother tried to sooth her. She didn't listen. Scarlette burst past her parents, and went out into the hallway. She leaned against the wall, and tried not to cry._

"_Should I go talk to her?" She heard her mother ask._

"_No mom, I got it," Ellis said. He appeared in the doorway, and looked at his sister for a few moments. He leaned against the wall next to her, and didn't say anything._

"_I don't want to lose her…." Scarlette whispered._

"_Neither do I, but I'm not gonna waste the last few moments we have with her," He said quietly. "c'mon, let's go back in the room." _

"_Nii-san…." She whispered. Ellis looked over at his sister, a little surprised. She hadn't used that nickname in a while._

"_Yeah?"_

"_You won't leave me, right?"_

" '_Course not," He said with a smile, "now let's go back inside."_

_The dream shifted, and they were all back around Kanade. Her breaths were labored, and they knew she only had moments left._

"_Onee," she breathed. Scarlette looked up at her sister, trying to hold back to the tears._

"_I'm here," Scarlette said, taking hold of her sisters hand._

"_Nii-nii," She looked over to Ellis, and smiled weakly. He smiled back, and took her other hand._

"_Mom….dad…." she whispered as she looked to her parents._

"_Daisuki," Scarlette smiled._

"_Love you too," Kanade murmured with a smile. The light faded from her eyes, and the heart monitor in the corner in the room created the only sound: a steady beep that confirmed it. Kanade had passed on._

_The family cried, but Scarlette headed for the door again._

"_Where are ya goin?" Ellis demanded._

"_I can't be here, I can't stand to look at her….I'll see you at home," Those would be the last words she would say to her family._

Scarlette replayed the dream over and over in her mind. She didn't know if her mind had come up with this on its own, or if it was a real memory.

"You ok?" Nick asked from the driver's side.

"Mmm? Yeah….I'm fine…." She sighed.

"I had a sister."

"…what?"

"I had a sister…and two parents who demanded I be more like her." Nick said stiffly. Scarlette looked at him with eager eyes, hoping he would continue.

"Her name was Rena. Straight A student, played cello like a goddess, and prayed that she could make it big time someday. I wish I could have been there when she did," His face didn't show any emotion, but his voice cracked. _He's using his poker face, _Scarlette realized.

"My parents split up when I was fourteen. Rena was sixteen. Mom took off with Rena; dad took off with me. He was a….recovered gambler, I guess you could say. As soon as we left though, we headed straight for Vegas. Taught me everything I know about the games…..And as soon as I was let in those casinos, I was raking in more money than I could have ever dreamed," His eyes were far away. He blinked back into focus, and looked over at Scarlette.

"That's the difference between the two of us. I waited until I was legal. You….on the other hand…."

"Obviously am not. But, hey, if it gets you the necessities, you don't really care," she shrugged it off. "So….uh…..where did you grow up?"

"Montana." She held back a laugh.

"You? Yoooou, the great gambling Nicolas, were born in Montana?" she couldn't keep the smile from spreading.

"At least I wasn't born in some hick town in the middle of nowhere," he smirked.

"You just say that 'cause you're jealous," Scarlette said. She looked outside the window, but didn't see anything out in the darkness.

"How did you do it?" He asked suddenly.

"Hmmmm?"

"Back at that club, the night we met….how did you get them to fall for your tricks so easily?" He asked slowly, as if he were unsure of the question. She sighed, but smiled slightly.

"Its not that hard to put two and two together Nick: Hormonal guys, an extremely good looking girl….." she smiled slightly at her small joke, "There's a difference, between me and the 'prostitute' me. Right now, I'm still the young, carefree nineteen year old I used to be. When I'm in the zone though….its like nothing else matters but the _money. _I could get them to believe anything I say, do anything I wanted them to. I'm not _me." _She curled her knees up under her, and wrapped her arms around them.

"Another difference…" Nick mused, "Doesn't matter 'who' I am, I'm always going to be a conman."

"You just love pointing out how different we are, don't you?" Scarlette asked. He just simply smirked, and said nothing more on the subject.

~oOo~

**So what did you think? It was longer than I expected…..BUT WHAT DID YOU THINK? You loved it, right?**

**It was confusing at some parts, I know…jesus I don't even remember what I wrote…..XD**

**Review?**


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